


Daddys's life

by herilaveur



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:29:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22878706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herilaveur/pseuds/herilaveur
Summary: The life of Levi and Nico now that they're parents...
Relationships: Nico Kim & Levi Schmitt, Nico Kim/Levi Schmitt
Comments: 13
Kudos: 81





	1. First day

Nico's looking at the two new interns attached to Ortho for the week. 

''OK, you get me an OR and page Dr. Avery. We're gonna need his help to gather up all the skin flaps from Mrs Johnson's hand as nicely as possible."

The interns are leaving in a hurry. Nico's about to pull out his phone, but a big pat on the back interrupts.

''Go home, Nico, I'll handle this.'' Link tells him.

Nico turns around and frowns.

''I can take care of my patient, Link. I'll just tell her I'll be home later, that's all."

Link shakes his head and smiles.

''No, Nico. It's your first day back from discharge. Enjoy it, there's not many cases today. I can do that. I'll do that. Don't make me remind you who's boss. You're tenured, but I'm still the chief of ortho. So I'm telling you to let me fix this hand and go home." His tone isn't harsh, but he's determined.

Nico doesn't have time to respond - but he has time to frown on his friend - that one of the interns is coming running in.

"No running in the halls of the hospital" Joe yells at him from down the hall.

"O.R. 2 is available right away," says the breathless intern, "but Dr. Avery is off today. Dr. Parker is covering plastic surgery but he's currently in the ER with Dr. Schmitt. He won't be available for another 15 minutes."

Nico's breathing starts to race right away. Link's hand rests on his lower back and pushes him slightly forward.

''OK. Go and see. I'll take the case. Just stay calm and keep me posted, okay?"

Nico lunges but can't keep his cool. He doesn't even hear Joe swear at him.

"You don't run in the halls of the hospital, for Christ's sake."

It takes Nico two minutes to assess the situation when he walks into the room. Casey's examining a large cut on Levi's arcade. A cut that runs across his left eyebrow, from the top of his eyebrow to the side of his eye. Levi's sweater is stained with his blood, which is totally understandable, given the width and location of the cut.

"Nico" Levi's voice is a mixture of surprise and shame.

Nico steps forward, slightly frowning. He's both worried and angry.

''I'm sorry, Nico. He's all right" says Levi in a small voice.

A small smile formed on Nico's face as he approached the examination table.

''I can see he's okay. But you're not. What happened to my lovely husband? More importantly, why didn't anyone tell me? Why did an intern tell me you were here without even realizing it?"

Levi looks down, but Casey reminds him not to move.

''Okay'' says Casey, ''I'll go get some suture kit. You're getting some extra stitches, buddy. I'll give you two minutes, but then I'll take care of you."

"Thank you, Casey" Levi says to him softly.

''We've all been looking forward to seeing you again, Levi. But you could've just stopped by and said hello." Casey laughed before turning to Nico. ''I wanted to tell you, but he didn't want to. I'm sorry about that.But I'm gonna fix that sweet face you love so much, I promise."

Levi drowns out a moan once Casey comes out and Nico gets close to him.

''It's your first day, Nico. I didn't mean to bother you at work." Levi apologises.

Nico comes and sits next to him, puts his arm around her husband's shoulders and strokes his cheek with his free hand.

"What happened, Levi?"

Levi sighs and hides his face in her hands.

"I'm a null father."

''No, you're not. You're wonderful." Nico doesn't even hesitate. He doesn't want to please Levi by saying that, he really means it. Levi's sweet and caring and always puts other people's needs before his own. Nico has always seen that he would be a perfect father, and for the past month, every time he sees Levi holding their son or talking to him, he knows that he was totally right.

''This is my first day alone with our son and I'm screwing it up. We're in the E.R., Nico. First day! I haven't been able to properly care for our son even one day without you."

Nico leans over to the bassinet, sits on the exam table next to Levi and points to him. Their son is sound asleep. 

''Look, love, Elli's doing just fine. He knows his daddies love him. He knows we're doing our best. Now, I need to know what happened. Please."

''What happened is you married someone really clumsy sometimes... often...''

"And?"

''And I wanted to bring Elli so I could wait for you when you got off work. So I put him in the stroller and I leaned over to put on my shoes. My keys fell out of my pocket.. And I..."

Levi bites his lower lip. Nico knows her husband's embarrassed and that the rest is still going to be totally unlikely. Levi always does this when he hurts himself in ways that most people wouldn't. It always makes Nico anxious. Levi's capable of hurting himself with just about anything. One morning, on his way back from their honeymoon, he tripped putting on his jeans and broke his toe. Nico smiles as he thinks back on that moment. It's not funny, but it's so Levi !

"Levi, please." he begs softly.

"I sneezed. It was so sudden. I don't know what happened. But before I knew it, my head had hit our shoe cabinet and I was bleeding all over the place."

"Did you hurt yourself when you sneezed on our shoe cabinet?" Nico asks, just to confirm. Levi hates that. Every time, it's the same thing. When he tells how he hurt himself, Nico repeats itlike he might have misunderstood. But yes, he understood, like he always does. But this is different. He's not alone now and he feels so bad.

''Don't you dare laugh, Nico. I could have hurt Elli, if I had him in my arms at that moment. And if I passed out, who would have taken care of him?"

Nico's tightening his grip on Levi.

''Elli's fine. With "ifs," anything could happen to him... and you know it...So, you didn't pass out, baby?" Nico seems surprised.

''No. I put a compress on it and we came straight here. The advantage of living five minutes walk from the hospital, I guess."

''One of the advantages...'' confirms Nico.

When they found this apartment, after they were married two years ago, the goal was to spend as much free time together as possible, and not to waste time in traffic jams. And now that Elli is with them, it's even better. They will be able to go home soon, and it's true that the proximity of the hospital is not bad either when one of them gets hurt. Even though since they've been living there, only Levi has ever been injured. 

"You're unbelievable," Nico says, kissing his cheek.

Levi moans.

''That was a compliment, baby. You're just amazing. You took it on yourself when you can't stand the sight of your own blood. Do I need to remind you that two months ago you felt bad because you cut yourself on a piece of paper?"

''No, thank you. No need to remind me. I remember." Levi laughs softly.

''But ever since we adopted Elli, I've watched you change. You're a wonderful father. Okay, you hurt yourself. It happens to everyone."

Levi lets out a little chuckle "Happens to me more than anyone else."

''Maybe.'' Nico laughs, ''but you took care of our son before you did. You really are a wonderful father and I love you." 

Nico kisses him and then looks at his watch ''I officially ended my first day five minutes ago. I'll change while you get sewn up and the three of us take a walk before we go home?"

Levi nods his head and smiles.

"OK." Casey announces by entering the room with his suture kit. "Dr. Schmitt, please leave the room to keep Levi stationnary."

Nico's smiling. They've been married for four years and he's still not really used to being called Dr. Schmitt. It was a no-brainer. Seeing how his parents reacted after he finally found the courage to tell them that he was in a relationship with a man. With Levi. And that they were getting married.   
Until the last moment, he'd hoped that his family would come to the wedding. But he hadn't been too surprised, unfortunately. Especially since the wedding was held in the synagogue, since Nico had converted a few months before. He suffered more from his little sister's absence than from that of his parents. They were not really close the last few years, but he didn't think that she would also cut ties with him at the same time as his parents. He hasn't heard from them in 3 years. They don't even know they're dads now. Nico's written them off. It was less painful than hoping they'd come back to him.   
It's not that Levi cares much for his name, either. Especially because his father means nothing to him. But now that his mother had really accepted them and the whole family and community, it was a foregone conclusion that he would become Nico Schmitt. At first glance, it was not obvious to their colleagues, who were all very surprised by this choice, but it doesn't matter.

Casey clears his throat, which takes Nico out of his mind.

"I'm sorry." Nico excuses "I was thinking about how much I love you, Levi Schmitt" He says, kissing Levi gently.

Elli squirms into her seat and makes a little scream.

''I'll take care of it'' says Nico before Levi can move, ''you get treated, and I'm taking our boy for a little ride. I'll meet you in the lobby in 20 minutes?"

"Perfect" confirms Levi before gently adding, "You're so perfect, Nico Schmitt."

Casey winces, "I thought the honeymoon phase lasted a few months... you guys are unbelievable. So smooth!"

Nico unties his son's belt and hugs him. He puts it on his chest and the little black hair tickles his chin. Elli goes straight into position, like a frog.

''Hello Elli'' says Casey, stroking his hand, ''I'll take care of your daddy and then you can find him. I'm sure in a few years, you'll be the one giving your daddy stitches.''

Nico kisses Levi one last time and leaves the room, their son now wide awake in his arms. He heads to the attendings' lounge so he can change.

"Oh, my nephew came to see his auntie."

Nico doesn't have time to talk that Taryn takes Elli in her arms..

"Hi, Ellibei, how are you?"

Nico winces. Taryn knows he doesn't like it when she calls him that. It was already so hard to find a name for him. Levi wanted their son to have a Korean name. As a reminder of Nico's origins given he'd have Levi's last name. Nico had to remind him that he was happy to have a name that worked in Korea and America. Levi learned the correen and was the first to speak it with Elli. He keeps telling Nico that he shouldn't deny his origins.  
Nico was rather looking for a Hebrew name for him, wanting to show his belonging to this religion which welcomed their couple and then their family without prejudice. Levi pointed out to him that Schmitt was significant enough as it was.   
Levi didn't give up and when he talked to Nico about the idea of naming their son Elli, in reference to ellibeiteo, which means elevator in Korean, Nico was seduced. So Nico proposed to give him the Hebrew name Simeon at his baptism. Levi was not convinced until Nico revealed to him the meaning of the name _prayer that is exalted_.

"What?" Taryn says, smiling "It's my privilege as an auntie. Go on, get changed, I'm taking care of my nephew. And take a shower, you stink like a hospital. Levi won't be back in the hospital for another month, so don't taunt him with your stink."

Nico laughs. 

''In a month, I'll be the one staying home for three weeks'' he says, ''and maybe I'll be glad if Levi brings home the hospital smell.''

Taryn points to the showers "Shower, Nico. I'm taking care of my baby love."

Nico smiles, kisses his son huddle up to Levi's best friend, grabs his stuff from his locker and hurries to shower.

When he comes out, Taryn is gone. It was obvious. He grunts softly and grabs his bag before he reaches the lobby. Levi laughs with his best friend. He's definitely telling her about his latest misadventures. Nico slips in beside him and wraps his arm around his waist, taking advantage of his free hand to caress Elli's head as it rests in Levi's arms.

"Ready?" asks Levi smiling, resting Elli in his stroller. 

"For you, always." confirmed Nico, provoking an amused moan from Taryn. 


	2. First day again...

"So, Dr. Schmitt, happy to get back?" Grey asks him during surgery.

Levi smiles so much, he's sure you can see it, despite his mask.

''Oh, yeah. I missed the adrenaline. I missed saving lives. I missed surgery. Even though now that I'm here, I miss my little guy."

Grey starts laughing.

''Welcome to being parents. When we're with our kids, we think about the hospital, and when we're here, we think about them. It's normal."

''Okay, I'm good. Let's close." Levi says, raising his hands, "Thank you for helping me, Dr. Grey."

"My pleasure, Dr. Schmitt. Always a pleasure working with you, reminds me of your residency."

Levi steps away from the patient and waves to one of the residents. He watches him close the patient's abdomen, without comment. 

"Somebody's looking for Dr Kim." Link announces as he opens the airlock door to cleanup.

Levi jumps slightly. Since their marriage, nobody's called Nico that anymore. Except bailey, especially in the beginning

"A former patient?" he asks, "You're the one who's taking over his patients during his leave, aren't you?"

Link shakes his head.

''No, she's not a patient. You'd better to come."

Levi rinses his hands, then wipes them dry before he follows Link.

"It's one of his family." he says quietly.

Levi freezes in place.

''Holy shit."

"Dr. Schmitt!" Bailey grumbles"Watch your language! I hope you don't talk to your son like that."

"화나다"

"I'm sure that's a bad word, too,'' Bailey says a little louder as Levi and Link walk up the hall.

"Maria Kim has just been admitted to the ER for a fall down a flight of stairs."

"Nobody named Maria in Nico's family." Levi realises.

''She's only three years old. It was her mother who asked if anyone knew Dr. Kim."

Link points him to a trauma room where there's a little girl with a flat arm waiting in a young woman's arms. Her smooth black hair falls down to her mid-back. She looks really sad. Levi recognizes her right away, even though he's never met her. His picture's in their living room, he sees her every day. He's the one who insisted that there be a picture of Nico's family at their house. Having been abandoned at birth, Elli won't know his biological origins, so it seems really important to Levi that he knows where his dads come from.

"Yon Kim?"

She nods silently, as if she's crying at the edge of her eyes.

"Did you know my brother?" she asks in a broken voice.

Levi looks at her attentively and tries to understand the situation.

''I just wish I could talk about him. I'd like to get to know his old friends, see where he lived. I can't say his name with my parents since he died."

"What?! Nico's not dead."

Levi puts his hand over his mouth, shocked by the harsh voice of his response. The young woman looks shocked. 

"Nico's fine. He's at home right now, he's on leave." he says in a softer voice.

The young woman starts crying and then laughs. Or she cries. Levi couldn't really tell.

''Maria, are you coming with me?'' Link asks the little girl ''Every princess in a cast is allowed one piece of candy in the nurses' room.'' And Link comes out of the room with the little girl in his arms.

"Why do you think he's dead? You want me to call her?"

"Is he still in Seattle?" she asks, wiping away her tears.

Levi nods and pulls out his phone. After a few rings, it goes to Nico's answering machine. He does it again but gets the same result.

''I'm sorry'' apologizes Levi ''he doesn't answer. But he should call me back soon."

Nico's sister looks at him surprised.

''You didn't even leave a message. I guess you guys are close."

''Yes, I'm Levi.''

She looks at him like she's supposed to understand something but it's not coming.

They're all startled when Bailey opens the door to the room.

''Schmitt. Dr. Schmitt's waiting for you in the lobby" Bailey tells her before she looks up. "Oh, my God, i saw the two _grey_ , the two _shepherd_ , the two _karev_ , the two _hunt_... ...and now the _schmitt_. You're all making it harder for me! Anyway, Nico's waiting with Elli and wants to know if you're done going to synagogue or if they're just both going. He left his phone at your house."

"Thank you, Bailey" Levi says softly, "can you ask him to come over here? Please."

''Glad to see you don't speak Korean anymore.'' She says smiling, ''it's confusing enough that you and Nico are speaking in Korean just so we can't understand you...Wait? Do you think I'm the hospital messenger, or what? I'm just going there so I can smell the baby again."

Levi scratches the back of his head and turns to Nico's sister.

"You're not just friends?"

"I'm her husband." Levi confirms, looking at her with her eyes wide open.

''I don't understand anything. My parents told me he was in an accident four years ago, that he died instantly. I was in Florence at the time, I couldn't go home because I was waiting for my daughter. I haven't been back to the United States since then because of my work. And now I find out he's alive. But also that he's married to a man."

Levi grunts. 

"That's why your family doesn't talk to him anymore. Ever since he told them he was gay... He's always been gay. He told them after we got engaged. I thought you knew about that. If you can't handle it, you don't have to see Nico today. He was very hurt not hearing from his family and doesn't need to relive a second abandonment."

Levi puts his hands on his hips, like he wants to grow up to protect Nico.

"I want to see my brother," she says quietly.

She barely finishes her sentence when a knock on the door rings. Levi opens it gently.

''Hey, baby,'' exclaims Nico, ''if you're not finished, we're both going. Your mother's meeting us there anyway.'' He looks down as Elli wiggles in the sling, against Nico's chest.

''No. Your sister's here.'' He warns Levi as he opens the door.

Nico's face closes immediately and Yon bursts into tears.

''I thought you were dead'' says Yon between tears ''they said you'd been in an accident. I'm sorry."

Nico's face breaks and Levi knows he's holding back the tears. Nico steps forward so Levi can close the door. Yon raises his head and points to the baby carrier.

''No? It's...'' she stutters.

Levi nods his head and strokes Elli's back through the fabric.

''This is Elli. This is our son. He's two months old."

Yon sits on the examination table with his head in his hands.

''I'm done. I'm gonna go to my mom's with Elli" Levi says softly to Nico.

Nico reaches out his arm to stop her from opening the door.

''No, please.'' Nico begs him, ''Stay. I need"

"Okay. I'm with you, baby."

Levi knows Nico wouldn't ask if he didn't really need it. Nico takes Elli out of his kangaroo pocket and hands him to Levi, kissing the top of his head and then he goes to sit next to his sister.

''They told me you were dead.'' Yon says softly as he looks up at Nico ''four years ago.''

''I'm fine. I told them I was going to marry Levi almost five years ago. I haven't heard from them since. I thought you knew about it, and I thought you disowned me too."

Nico's crying now. Levi comes and sits by her husband, so he can put his free hand on her lower back.

''I can't believe they said I was dead. My own parents'' Nico moans as he looks at Levi.

He puts his head on her husband's shoulder to cry. Yon blows his nose, and Nico seems to remember his presence. He stands up and looks at her.

"Then you knew nothing?"

"No." she says, wiping her eyes, "But I don't care, Nico. You're my brother. I love you so much."

She throws herself into Nico's arms and he holds her tight.

''I'm so glad you're alive. It's just unbelievable. I was so sad to have lived so far away from you for so long. I had so many regrets about our relationship. We were so close when we were kids."

She looks up and looks at Levi and then Elli.

''Oh, Nico. You're married! You got a baby! I missed that. I'm so sorry."

Nico holds a sob and Levi takes Yon's hand in his.

''You didn't know, Yon. But now you're here. You can be a part of our family, you know."

''Oh, Levi. You seem like such a wonderful man."

''He is,'' Nico says, putting his hand on Levi's hand.

''And I have a nephew. Maria's gonna be so happy. "

"Maria?" asks Nico puzzled.

"She's my daughter." Yon explains, "We're here because of her. I mean, we're in Seattle because I wanted to see where you lived, where you died... which you're not. Anyway, she fell down the stairs from the slide in the park and broke her wrist."

"Is she with her daddy?" Nico asks.

Yon gives a long sigh and shrugs his shoulders.

''He dumped me a year ago. It's just me and her now. I haven't spoken to the parents since. A single mother is not acceptable. My job offered me a transfer, 30 minutes outside Seattle, so I took it as a sign, so I came back from Italy."

Nico looks at her and then looks at Levi, smiling softly.

"It's not just the two of you now," Levi says, "we're here."

Yon wipes away a tear and takes Levi's hand, now resting on Nico's thigh, in his hand.

They both get up at the same time, as the door opens, revealing Link and Maria.

''Mama. This gentleman is too kind. He gave me a lollipop."

"He's my best friend," Nico says, looking at his sister Link. "Link, it's my sister, Yon."

Link greets her and walks away with a big smile on his face.

''Maria.'' Yon says softly to his daughter, ''Here are your uncles, Nico and Levi. And your cousin, Elli."

"Wow," exclaims the girl, "he's so cute. He's my favorite baby."

The three of them burst out laughing, while Elli gives a little whiny cry.

"He's gonna be hungry" Nico explains. He looks at everyone in the room before he asks, "Are we going home?"

When Nico leaves the hospital, he smiles as he watches Levi kiss the top of their son's head as it protrudes from the baby carrier. He puts a gentle kiss on his niece's cheek, which he holds in his arms under the happy gaze of his sister. 

Levi's phone starts ringing as soon as they walk out the door of their house.

''Mama? No, we're fine. Don't you worry about us. We won't be coming to the synagogue tonight. No, we're fine. Nico's sister's here. It's all right. It's a long story, I'll tell you later, Elli wants to eat. Yes, we're coming on Sunday. Okay, I'll tell her. I love you too."

Levi looks up to the sky and hangs up.

''Sorry, that was my mother. She was worried she wouldn't see us on the Sabbath. Yon and Maria, you are officially invited to join us for Sunday noon."

  
Yon's gawking and Nico's laughing. She thanks Levi and then looks at Nico in disbelief.

"Wait. Are you Jewish, too?"

Nico nods with a smile.

"It's a problem, little sister?" he finally asks her and she says nothing 

''Oh, no. I feel like we've got a lot to talk about!" she exclaims, jumping into his arms. "I feel like life is giving me a second chance to be the best sister I can be."

He never thought that his first day off, alone with his son, would end like this. 


	3. It's not normal

"You look like a zombie."

Levi turns to her best friend with a smile on his face.

"Thank you, Taryn, you always know how to make people happy."

Taryn bursts out laughing.

"You're welcome, with pleasure."

She looks at him closely as he's changes.

"But really, you look tired. Are you all right?"

Levi shrugs his shoulders.

''Yeah, I'm all right. I'm a surgeon, married to a surgeon and we have a five-month-old baby. We rotate shifts, alternate moments with Elli and try to see each other a little bit, just the two of us, when we can. So, yeah, I'm a little tired, but I'm okay."

They come out of their locker rooms and walk out of the hospital together.

"Aren't you going to pick up Elli from daycare?" Taryn is surprised when Levi follows her.

He shakes his head.

"No. Nico's working tonight so he kept him with him this afternoon."

Taryn looks at him, puzzled.

"Shouldn't he have rested instead?"

"He only saw him for 10 minutes yesterday when he came home from the seminary. So after not seeing him for a week, he wanted to spend some time with him. Especially since last night, Elli spent the whole time crying because he was tired. And then Nico slept through Elli's naps, I guess. Now all I have to do is go home and enjoy my husband for a while before he goes to work. Knowing him, the house will be tidy, the food will be ready and I'll just have to relax before I sleep through the night because O Joy, Elli's been sleeping through the night for two weeks!"

They split up around the corner, Taryn laughing and wishing her a good night, barely planned. He hears her say "old man routine" but he's too far away to hear the whole sentence. Levi thanks again for the proximity of their apartment. Like every time he gets off work, or like every time he enjoys a few more moments in Nico's arms before leaving for work.

As soon as he opens the door of their apartment, he knows that nothing will happen as he had planned. It looks like a tornado has passed through their living room. There's a baby bottle on the coffee table, clothes thrown on the couch, and most importantly, Elli is screaming. Levi puts down his stuff, his coat misses the coat rack and falls to the floor but he doesn't even pick it up, too eager to see what's wrong.   
He enters the kitchen. Nico is a real mess. He's totally messed up, badly dressed and looks totally distraught. It's the first time Levi's ever thought that and it startled him. Nico swings from left to right, trying to rock Elli who is still screaming as loud as ever. 

"Nico?"

Nico is startled and seems completely lost.

''Levi. At last. I don't know what to do. He's been crying for... for hours. My son.. My son hates me."

Levi comes up to them and takes Elli from his father's arms. 

''He's been sleeping all morning in day care. Everything was fine there. But since then he won't eat, he can't fall asleep, all he does is scream.'' Nico explains. He must be practically screaming because Elli is screaming really loud. 

Levi puts the little being against his shoulder and he starts screaming even louder. The two men didn't even think it was possible. Then Levi puts it back against him, Elli's back is resting on his forearm and the volume goes down but Elli is still crying. 

They try to feed him again, but Elli refuses even a drop of milk. When Levi changes him, he takes Elli's temperature just to be sure.

''Shit, Nico, he's got a fever. 38°3.''

''It's barely a fever, Levi. He's been screaming for a while. It's the rage. He just didn't want me to take care of him." 

Levi takes Elli back in his arms and looks at him before he makes up his mind.

''I'm taking him to the hospital.'' Levi decides. He puts Elli in his bed, red with anger, while he packs a bag with what he needs.

''No Levi.'' Nico stops him. ''What the fuck are you doing? What are you gonna tell them? That our son is screaming because we're incompetent? That I can't take care of him one day? That you're freaking out because it's what you do best?"

Levi feels the anger building up, but he watches their son, still screaming and stuffing his stuff in the diaper bag.

''He's not well, Nico. He's not usually like this. Something's not right. I know something's wrong. I can feel it."

"Stop!" Nico yells out "You're not his mother. You don't feel anything. You and I, we can't feel that way. We should never have done this."

Levi looks at him in shock. He picks Elli up from her crib and looks at Nico with a defiant look in his eye. 

''I'm taking him to the hospital, Nico. With or without you."

Nico doesn't move, so Levi pushes him. The adrenaline must be helping, or because else Nico's really exhausted, but he gets propelled up against the bedroom wall before he knows it.

Levi comes out slamming the door with tears streaming down his cheeks.

"It's OK, baby. We're gonna take care of you."

As soon as he walks through the E.R. door, Joe intercepts him. Elli screams so loud, he can't go unnoticed. He really doesn't.

''Levi? What's going on?"

Levi shrugs his shoulders.

''I don't know. He's been screaming for hours. He's up to 38°3. I don't even know how he's still breathing."

''You know, when babies teethe'' Joe starts to say...

Levi cuts him right off and screams out in anger, "No. He's not okay. He needs a CT scan or an ultrasound or something, I don't know. But he's not all right."

''Schmitt. Levi. Here. "

Levi turns around to face Owen, who shows him an exam room.

Nico runs through the ER and into the cubicle at the same time as them. Levi looks at him, but they don't exchange a word. Levi places his screaming little package on the exam table. As soon as Owen lays his hands on Elli, the baby starts screaming even louder.

"Woh" Owen says loud enough to be heard. ''His belly's too tight. I want an abdominal ultrasound right away."

Levi runs to get the echo machine, but Owen grabs the probe out of his hands.

"I've got it," Owen says.

Owen doesn't have to talk for Levi to know he was right. There was something there. 

"Joe," Owen yells as he comes out of the exam room, "book an OR right away. Page Hayes, we've got appendicitis on a baby who's only six months old."

It's all happening so fast. Elli gets carried away by Owen, and Levi and Nico helplessly stop at the O.R. hallway doors. They didn't even have time to kiss their baby one last time. What if it's too late? What if the appendix had already burst? What if the infection has spread?

Levi leans against the hallway wall and hides his head in his hands to cry. Hands grab his shoulders and pull him against a powerful chest. He doesn't have to open his eyes to know it's not Nico. 

"It's OK" Link tells him softly. 

Levi continues crying over Link. Because he's scared. Because he's angry. Because he's disappointed. Because he's lost.

It's a few minutes before he gets his thoughts together and wonders where Nico is.

Levi lifts his head from Link's chest, whose blouse is totally soaked, and looks at Nico, who is sitting with his head in his hands, leaning against the wall, his eyes filled with tears. Levi lets go of Link and slides down the wall to sit next to her husband who immediately leans over her shoulder. They watch Link walk through the door.  
They should be in the family waiting room, but they can't bring themselves to stand up.

''I'm really sorry, Levi. "I don't know what came over me. What I said." Nico pauses ''I didn't mean it. I really didn't mean it. It wasn't me. I... I don't know."

Levi's hand slips into Nico's and he squeezes it, no sound can come out of his throat.

''You were right, Levi'' Nico says in between sobs. ''He could have died with me. I didn't see anything. I didn't even want you to take him away. He could have died. He could."

"Shut up" Levi yells. 

A nurse jumps down the hall and turns to look at them. Nico's stunned and even stops breathing. Levi wipes his tears and blinks. He's lost his contact lenses, pushed by the flood of tears.

Nico looks at him and takes out Levi's glasses from his coat pocket. He reaches out to him with his fingertips, as if afraid of his reaction. Levi grabs them and runs his thumb over Nico's cheek to wipe his tears.

''I don't want to hear you say that. I don't wanna hear that he might..." Levi stops. It's too hard to say it out loud. ''Our son needs us, so we're going to put aside what you said and we're going to get it together for him."

Nico puts his hand on the hand that Levi put on his own cheek.

''I'm so sorry. I didn't mean any of that."

''I know.'' Dump Levi in a huff. ''You were exhausted. You got angry. You always say what hurts when you get mad. But let's just forget about it. Our son will be fine. We love him. I know you didn't mean it."

Levi dives into Nico's eyes.

''Of course I didn't mean it. I love him so much." Nico moans before taking a deep breath. "I'm so sorry I doubted you."

"I know." Levi whispers.

"I'm so sorry" he says. "You were right to panic. I should have panicked too. I should have seen he wasn't OK. I'm a doctor."

''And you're rational.'' Levi says, ''And that's good, most of the time. I worry about everything all the time and I like that you can help me rationalise. But sometimes, like today, it's good that I worry enough to think the worst."

Nico's wiping the tears that are flowing again.

''I should have taken him earlier. I was so angry. I felt like he didn't want me there. I felt so rejected."

Levi takes him in his arms and kisses him on the forehead.

''He's just a baby, Nico. He's our baby. You're not a stranger, you're his father. Just like I am. Just as much as I am."

Nico's pushing Levi back a little bit.

''No. You knew. You knew right away that there was something there. You saved his life. I could have let him die."

Levi shakes his head.

''No. You were trying. You didn't put him in bed not to hear it again. You didn't shake him to make him stop. You were trying to give him all the love you had. You would have ended up coming here if I hadn't come home. But you couldn't remove the idea that he didn't love you, so you waited for me. If you'd known I wasn't coming home tonight, you probably would've brought him here. That's the problem, Nico. You need to think of yourself as his fucking father. We're his parents. He doesn't like me better than you."

Nico starts crying over Levi.

''What if I'm like my dad?"

Levi grabs his face, makes him look at it.

''Nico, I didn't even have a father. My father figure was a man that no one loved when he was alive, except me and his secret lover. And then? You don't have to have had a good father to become one. We're his parents. We're going to do the best for him and give him all the love he deserves. And we're going to make mistakes, just like any parents would. We're gonna make mistakes and we're gonna learn."

The swinging door that opens makes them jump.

''Everything's going well. He's being treated like a VIP." Link warns them. "Come on, guys, get out of here."

Nico and Levi stand up, hand in hand, and go to the family seats. Link waits with them at all times, putting his hand on Nico's knee as he taps his foot on the floor. 

"It's too long" suddenly pleases Levi as he stands up. 

Link gets up and pushes him to sit down. 

''I'm going to the news.'' he says as he walks through the doors. 

He comes back just a couple of minutes later with Hayes.

''It's all right, fellas. It's about time, but the appendix was still intact. There was nothing infected around it yet, as far as I could tell. He was very lucky. It's really hard to detect it in a baby, especially a baby this small. Even with two daddy doctors."

"Can we see it?" asked Nico impatient.

"Come on."

They're in pediatrics, around their sleeping son. 

"Levi, I'm so sorry."

Joe's voice startled Levi. 

"It's OK."

"No," Joe's voice says, "I shouldn't have minimized it. He's your son. You know your son. I should have taken you more seriously. I'm sorry."

Levi nods his head and looks at Elli. 

''Parents' feelings are always a consideration.'' Owen says as he enters the room. ''Some parents feel that way right away.'' He looks at Nico and says, "I never feel anything. Fortunately, we're complementary with Teddy.

"Thank you, Owen," says Nico as he hugs him. It's so unexpected coming from Nico that Owen almost falls backwards. "Thank you so much."

"It was my job." Owen said humbly as he left the room, "You're welcome."

Nico takes a sigh and puts his hand on Levi's hand holding their son's.

"Talk to me, Levi, please. Do you hate me?"

Levi wipes his eyes.

''No, of course not. I was so scared."

Nico goes around the bed so he can hold Levi. 

''And" Levi goes ''And I think if it had been you, Joe would have taken you in right away. But since it was me, she thought I was freaking out for nothing. Cause I do, I often panic over nothing. But I was hoping that now my colleagues would have some respect for what I'm saying. I feel like I'm still wearing glasses...

"Your colleagues, or your husband?" asks Nico softly.

Levi moans.

''I'm really sorry, Levi. I should have listened to you. I'm so glad you stood up to me. I feel so bad."

''We all make mistakes, Nico. We're gonna get through this one, OK? But don't let me freak out every time either. Remember when he had his first cold?"

Nico smiles. Of course he remembers. Levi spent the night watching their son, constantly checking his vitals. Nico had to take away his stethoscope so he could let Elli get some sleep.

''Owen didn't doubt you for a second.'' Nico says ''You impressed the trauma chief, that's something. Major Owen Hunt..."

Levi smiles and starts laughing softly.

''And I'm impressed with you every day, Levi. Every day since the first one. You're amazing. I'm sorry I hurt you. You're the love of my life and I can't imagine my life without you. Or without Elli. I'm so scared of losing you".

Levi puts his hands on Nico's cheek and kisses him.

''I love you too, baby. You're gonna have to put up with us for the rest of time, don't worry."

Link's covering Ortho instead of Nico, who refuses to go home and rest. He watches Levi fall asleep in the chair next to Elli's bed, but can't take his eyes off their son. 

Elli makes a small, plaintive cry as Nico takes him in his arms and rocks him gently. 

When Levi wakes up, seeing her husband rocking and singing softly in Elli's ear is just perfect.


	4. Just an accident

''I guess it's a message from Nico'' Taryn's voice startled Levi who looked up from his cell phone.

"Why?" he asks, smiling.

His best friend laughs.

''You always have that silly smile when it's from Nico. Like you guys have been together two weeks... I'm so jealous."

Levi looks up and shakes his head.

''Nonsense. I don't have a stupid smile. Never."

Taryn looks at him with a defiant look in her eyes.

"Well, was it him or not?"

Levi smiles and shrugs his shoulders.

"Maybe..."

''You see! I was right." Taryn says triumphantly, "I guess he's telling you he loves you and wishes you a good day, reminding you that since he's off duty, he'll cook the meal you like for tonight..."

Levi hits him on the shoulder with a "stop it." while his phone beeps a new notification. He opens it, smiles and shows Taryn his phone.

"Look, he's helping his daddy."

Taryn grabs the phone and laughs.

"Is it in the laundry basket?" Levi nods "Oh, that's so cute. How lucky for Nico... to have so much help: emptying the hamper to hide in."

Levi picks up his phone and smiles. Elli's been walking for three weeks, but he's been climbing whatever he can for weeks now. Last week, Nico found him on the kitchen island. He had pushed a plastic crate, so he could climb on it, reached one of the kitchen stools and climbed on the island. Luckily Nico intercepted him before he hurt himself. Levi almost stopped breathing when Nico told him. But despite his fear for Elli, Levi never hinted that Nico should have kept a better eye on their son. He had only smiled, reminding her how hard it is to think about all the dangers for such a full-blooded baby, and had thanked her husband for not hiding this kind of incident from her. 

Levi's pager pulled him out of his thoughts. Taryn's pager rang at exactly the same time. 

"Dibs" announces Levi on his way to the E.R. 

''Mrs. Adam, 59, fell down the stairs at the vet's office. Lost consciousness for less than two minutes."

''My dog got his leash tangled around my legs and made me fall,'' says the patient.

''Hello, Mrs. Adam, I'm Dr. Schmitt. Tell me where it hurts."

And Levi examines the patient, giving her full attention.

''Okay. We're doing a full workup," Levi explains to the intern, who follows him. "I want to."

Nico's voice cuts Levi off in his sentence. Levi steps back and gently draws the curtain that separates the two examination beds. 

He holds his breath when he discovers Elli, huddled in Nico's arms, a bloody compress on his face.

He looks at the intern and tells him everything he wants to know about the patient's exams. "And page Ortho for her wrist."

"Excuse me," he says to his patient, and before he slips behind the curtain... "What happened?"

Taryn is startled and Nico seems defeated.

''I'm sorry. It happened so fast. He was in the hamper, and I took the picture. It looked so cute. By the time I sent you the picture, the hamper tipped over and he hit the corner of the living room table."

Taryn lifts Elli's compress, while Elli snuggled up to Nico and reached out a hand to Levi.

"Dad."

''I'm here, Elli. It's all right."

Levi looks at the cut across his son's forehead, up to his eyebrow, then sits next to Nico.

"Taryn" asks Levi softly to "page Casey for Elli, please. You're good, but he's the best."

"I already paged him," says Taryn, smiling "nothing better than a plastic surgeon for my nephew."

"I'm so sorry," whispers Nico, looking down.

"Hey Nico," says Levi softly, stroking his lower back, "it was an accident. Well, it happens. And that's basically what we live by."

Nico smiles but loses his smile as he watches his son huddle between them now.

''I didn't even think he could hurt himself. I thought he was so cute. I should have gotten him out of there instead of taking that stupid picture. I am"

"It was an accident" Levi says softly, kissing her husband's cheek. "It happens. It could have happened with me. Even with both of us."

"Dr. Schmitt? "Nico and Levi answer at the same time, and then look at each other and smile. The intern seems embarrassed. "Uh... you, Dr. Schmitt," he says, pointing to Levi, "Dr. Lincoln's in the middle of surgery. He can come in 30 minutes, but Dr. Shepherd wants a head CT and they have a place in 25 minutes. How do I do it?"

Levi looks at Nico with those puppy-dog eyes and Nico sighs and nods. 

"I've got Ortho." Levi says, "Confirm CT."

Levi opens the curtain a little bit and Nico slides into the opening, putting Elli back in his arms as he passes.

''Hello, Ms. Adam, I'm Dr. Schmitt, orthopedic surgeon. I'm going to be examining your wrist." She looks up and down at him, obviously surprised, so Nico feels compelled to justify, ''I'm not in scrubs because I'm off duty.''

The patient laughs.

''No, no, it's not like that. You're..." she smiles, "you guys are a really cute couple."

Nico smiles, feeling her cheeks turn red.

"Thank you."

He hears Levi chuckling across the curtain. He takes the patient's hand and examines her.

''Thank you for taking time off work for me on your discharge. Is your son okay? How old is he?"

Nico looks up and smiles at him.

''He's gonna be fine, thank you. He's 14 months old. So, you sprained your wrist. You'll have to wear a splint for a couple of weeks, but you don't need a cast. I'll put the splint on you."

Nico heard that Casey arrived while he was examining the patient. He tensed up when Elli started screaming.

''Go ahead, Doctor. I can wait." Dr Adam says, smiling, pointing to the head curtain.

Nico nodded his head, thanked her and went back to the other side of the curtain. Elli is lying on the bed. Levi tries to hold him down so that Casey can give him the gas to relax. But Elli is screaming so much now that he's not even breathing through the mask.   
Nico takes his hand, firmly so that he can't tear the mask off, and starts singing Elli's favourite lullaby. 

He hates having to do this. Under the amused gaze of Casey and Taryn, but also knowing that everyone can hear him. He loves singing to his son in the quiet of his room before he falls asleep. He loves when Levi sings with him, even though his Korean accent makes Nico smile every time. But he never thought he'd sing in public...and yet he does. For Elli.   
He feels Elli relax under his hands and Levi breathes, as if he's been holding his breath for a long time. Nico looks at him, secretly hoping he's not going to faint. Levi seems to understand him as he smiles back at her.   
And then they both sing.
    
    
              내 사랑하는 아기? 
              _What about my darling baby?_
            
    
    
    나는 팔에 잠 들었다 _In my arms you're asleep._ _  
    _
    
    
    그는 그의 작은 침대에 있습니다 _There he is in his cot.  
    
      
    
    _안녕히 주무세요 _Good night, my little one._

Elli finally relaxes and breathes into the mask. He falls asleep almost immediately. The exhaustion from his crying probably helps too. Casey activates and ten minutes later he puts a clean compress on the six stitches he has just done.

  
''A worthy son of his father.'' Casey says as he looks at Levi. He turns to Nico and smiles, "Cheer up, man. If he's as clumsy as Levi, you're gonna have to come back and sing here a few times. You sing good, mystery man."

  
"Is there anything he can't do?" asks Taryn puzzled.

Levi shrugs his shoulders and then shakes his head.

"He's perfect." Levi says looking at her husband.

Nico looks down at Elli and shakes his head in turn.

''If I was perfect, we wouldn't be here,'' he says in a harsh voice.

Levi circles the bed and huddles up next to him.

''I think you're perfect, Nico. Let's just agree to disagree, okay?"

The laughter coming from behind the curtain makes them jump.

''Sorry.'' Mrs Adam says across the curtain.

Nico remembers who has to put a splint on her. He'd totally forgotten. He kisses Elli, still half asleep, and then Levi before leaving to get a splint and a gown. When he comes back, Levi talks quietly with the patient, the curtain fully open between the two beds.

''I was just telling your husband how cute you three are. I remember when my son first came to the ER. I could have killed my husband because it happened with him. Even if he had nothing to do with it, poor thing. The kid would've fallen even if he'd been with me. It's so beautiful to see how much trust you have for each other."

Nico's putting the splint on the patient, just in time for her to go to CT. When he goes to the locker room to take off his gown, he can't help but listen to the interns talking.

"It was just incredible," says the little brown boy who works with Levi, "it's like he finally got a soul. He looks so different when he's with his husband and son.

Nico hears a chuckle.

''I swear to God. He looked so... so human. And his voice! Fuck, he had the voice of an angel. And the worst part is, the other Dr. Schmitt, too. And in Korean! It was so cute. They go so well together."

"I agree," said Nico as he exited the locker room, provoking the screams of the three interns. 

And with a huge smile on his face, he meets Levi, who entrusts Elli to him, promising him to try not to stay out too late.

''Why are you smiling so much?'' finally asks Levi.

''The interns said we're good together.'' Nico says, ''and I couldn't agree with them more."

"Me neither," Levi laughs, "we're so perfect together."

Nico walks away with Elli, turning around to greet Levi one last time.


	5. I want you

''Well, now you tell me what's going on, Nico.'' 

Link looks determined, but Nico ignores him completely and shrugs his shoulders.

''What? I don't know what you're talking about."

Link makes an exasperated groan.

''You've been in a terrible mood for the past few days. You barely speak, and when you do, you're super aggressive."

Nico gives him a dark look.

''You know I'm right.'' Link says, not at all impressed. ''So? "Trouble in paradise?"

"We're fine." Nico replies dryly.

"You see ! Don't mug me, I'm worried about you. You look like Joe who can't stop complaining about her sex drive."

Nico puts his head down to focus on her shoelaces.

''Fuck, right? Wait, is that it?"

Nico moans and laces his second shoe.

"I don't want to talk about this."

He's about to leave, but Link stops him.

"Are you kidding me? Am I your best friend or not? What good am I if I'm not?"

Nico relaxes and closes the ortho airlock door.

''OK. Maybe we don't see enough of each other with Levi. We haven't spent an evening alone together in at least two months. And every time we do, Elli wakes up and interrupts us. Ever since he learned how to open doors, it's so wonderful... Levi left him at his mother's last week, but we were so exhausted by our guards and Elli's night terrors that we fell asleep before we even got undressed. Our schedules are totally opposite, as if the universe is ganging up on us."

Nico expects Link to laugh, but he doesn't. Nico lets out a big sigh.

"Haven't you done anything in two months?" Link wonders.

''No, that's not what I meant. We still have sex, but it's frustrating to have to be... fast. I just wish I could have one day with my husband and know that I can take the time."

''And be able to spend the day having sex...'' Link goes on to wink at him.

"Yeah," confirms Nico, smiling, "without worrying about Elli coming into the room or our pagers ringing in the middle of..."

Link grabs his phone and smiles.

''Okay. Put your day off tomorrow. I'm covering the E.R. And put Elli with your sister or Levi's mother."

Nico sweeps the air between them.

''It's okay, Link. I'm just tired and a little on edge. It can wait."

"No," confirms Link, "you take the day off tomorrow. And you better enjoy it and come back with a big smile on your face."

Their pagers start beeping, freeing Nico from this conversation. It's not the worst conversation he's ever had with his best friend, but that's close.

Between patients, he calls Levi's mom, who's happy to take Elli. Nico finishes at 6pm, they'll meet at the synagogue tonight and Elli will sleep at her place directly. Levi's not working tomorrow because he worked all last weekend. Slowly, a little smile spreads on Nico's face as he imagines their night and especially tomorrow's day.

"There should be a law that says you can't have two married surgeons working alternately for that long," Levi complains as he changes in the locker room.

"Is my best friend frustrated?" Taryn laughs as she puts on her gown.

"Absolutely frustrated, yes!" Levi confirms, "We've been working alternately for two months. Now I'm in the afternoon, and he started at 5:30am. I worked all last weekend and he's working all this weekend. It's sure it's perfect for Elli because he's with him more often than at the daycare, but for us it's just frustrating!"

Levi lets out a painful moan as he catches his reflection in the mirror as he takes off his shirt.

"Levi?" asks Taryn softly, "There's more to it than that, isn't there?"

Levi looks at his reflection and then points at it.

"What if he doesn't want me anymore? What if he doesn't find me attractive any more...I used to find it hard to understand why he found me attractive...... but what if he doesn't anymore?''

"Nico loves you, Levi. He's totally crazy about you."

Levi's putting on his new shirt.

''I know he loves me. But if he no longer finds me attractive?"

Taryn looks at him with her evil smile.

"Then make him want you again, Levi."

His pager rings and he leaves the locker room, replaying his best friend's words over and over in his head. 

Today Grey's not here, so Levi's supervising the general surgery department. He's paged to the E.R., to a patient who's impaled himself with his bike. Of course, Nico's already examining that patient.

''Reminds me of our first meeting,'' Levi whispers in his ear as he bends over to take the chart. 

Nico raises his head gently and whispers a "me, too," smiling.

They're on their way to the operating room together. Levi lets his hand run over her husband's ribs as they walk and Nico is startled. When he does it again, Nico giggles.

"Stop, you're tickling me."

Levi frowns but moves closer to Nico. 

"It's been a long time since we've done surgery together." Levi says softly, "I miss it.

"We operated together four days ago, Levi."

Nico turns to her husband and looks at him weird. 

"Are you OK? You look weird."

Levi grumbles and sulks as he pushes the door to the disinfection room.

Bailey joins them for the surgery. The poor man has a fractured tibia, a ruptured spleen and a ruptured liver. 

"Nice to mingle with you, Dr Schmitt," she says, preparing herself, "it's been a long time."

In the middle of the surgery, after the spleen is removed and the other organs checked, Levi looks up and sees her husband pinning pins to the bones in the patient's leg. Nico must feel her gaze as he looks up to meet her gaze. Levi winked at him before focusing again on his patient. 

Nico coughs, as if choking on his own saliva, and Bailey turns to him to see if he is okay. 

''I'm fine. Sorry."

He looks at Levi, squints a little, trying to figure out what the hell he's playing at.

전혀 죄송하지 않습니다 _I'm not sorry at all._

Nico jumps at the same time Bailey does. She looks at Levi, stunned, then at Nico.

뭐하고있어, 레위 _What's your game, Levi?_

Bailey doesn't have time to open his mouth for Levi to get pissed off.

나는 놀지 않는다. 나는 단지 당신이 나를 원하게 만들려고 노력하고 있습니다. 하지만 방금 잃어 버렸어 _I'm not playing I'm just trying to make you want me. But it's pointless._

Levi looks at Bailey and asks if she can close the patient. She nods,getting him to sign out.

He leaves the room without a glance at Nico even though Nico calls out to him.

Bailey closes the patient without a word. Nico focuses on that leg, trying not to think about Levi. But when he puts down his last tool and lifts his head, he realizes that Bailey is looking at him with a frown on his eyebrows.

''I don't know what he said, but I know your husband's hurt, Nico. So fix it. An angry, wounded Levi is a walking disaster."

Nico nods his head, throws his gown and gloves in the trash and goes to clean up. He looks for Levi everywhere for ten minutes, but nobody seems to have seen him. Even Taryn doesn't know where he is, but when she reveals part of their conversation this morning, Nico knows that he must find him immediately to clear things up. When the idea hits him, he hesitates but goes anyway.

And indeed, Levi is there. In their elevator. Nico wonders how long it's been since he's been going up and down the floors, leaning into that little corner where they first kissed. He looks so sad that he hasn't even seen Nico come in at the same time as the other people. 

"Levi," he whispers softly as he strokes his arm.

Levi pulls his arm out and crosses it across his chest.

''It's okay, Nico. We'll talk about it at home."

Nico raises his head and looks around. The elevator's way too crowded to have this kind of discussion.

''I'm taking the day off tomorrow.'' Nico says quietly.

''You didn't have to change your plans for me.'' said Levi, his voice hurt.

"I changed my plans this morning." Nico admits, "I need to spend some time with you."

Levi looks at him out of the corner of his eye, like he's being sincere. Which he is.

''Elli's gonna be happy, he hasn't seen a lot of us at the same time lately.''

Nico's got a pinched smile on his face.

''I called your mother this morning, I'm leaving Elli with her tonight. She's bringing him over for the dinner tomorrow."

Levi looks surprised.

''What? Why?"

Nico's looking around. Half their heads are turned and they turn as soon as he looks at them. Some people are smiling, and Nico knows they're listening. At the same time it's hard not to listen to a conversation in an elevator.

침대에서 옷없이 옷없이 하루를 보내고 싶습니다 _I want to spend the day with you. In bed and without clothes._

Levi seems surprised, so Nico approaches him. They're completely glued to each other, against the corner of the elevator. Nico bends over to whisper in Levi's ear.

나는 너무 좌절 _I'm so frustrated._

Levi starts laughing then kisses Nico before answering.

''Me, too. So much."

Nico lays his lips on Levi so hard, Levi hits his head on the elevator wall.

''Okay. That's enough, gentlemen." Bailey interrupts them, "I think I'm gonna learn Korean just to see what you're talking about."

Levi goes all red.

''Maybe not no.'' She finally says, ''but I'm sure it was inappropriate in an elevator, and at work. So get to work!"

''Yes, Dr. Bailey,'' Levi says as he leaves the elevator as it opens, not even looking where he is, hand in hand with Nico. 

They enter the first available on-call room. The door's is't just closed that Nico's lips are on top of Levi's.

''How could you think I didn't want you anymore?'' he grunts as he removes Levi's shirt.

''I never understood, Nico.'' Levi laughs with a shrug, ''but I'm so happy about it.''

Nico kisses him as he runs through his body : "I love everything about you so much. I love the curve of your neck. I love your face. I love the way your beard stings my lips. I love your nipples. I love your belly button so deep. I love the curve of your back. And I love the curve of your ass."

He puts both hands on Levi's ass to get close to him as he gets up to grab his lips.

"Haven't you forgotten something?" Levi asks, laughing, looking down at the bulge in his pants.

''I like your sex.'' Nico whispers as he puts his hand between Levi's pants and boxers ''and tomorrow I promise to have fun with them all day.''

Levi makes a little moan.

''We're gonna be in bed all day, totally naked, and we're gonna think of nothing but having fun."

''So great idea,'' Levi whispers as he puts his hand in Nico's boxers.

"Oh, fuck."

Link's scream startled them, as did the light coming from the open door. They split up and look like two teenagers caught in the act.

''Remember to lock up, boys. Did you forget everything or what?"

Nico takes a deep sigh of frustration and yells "Get out of here."

Link looks at them amused.

''Sorry. Rugby battles. I need some help."

Nico grunts as he closes his pants while Levi does the same. He puts a quick kiss on his lips and Levi holds him by the wrist.

내일 내가 널 돌봐 _tomorrow I'll take care of you_ says Levi with a smile.

Nico looks at him and nods, a big smile on his face and whispers a "With joy".

''Did he just say something nasty to you in Korean, just so I wouldn't understand him?'' asks Link as they both walk down the hall.

"Maybe" suggests Nico in a teasing tone.

Link laughed out loud. 

"I never thought Levi would do that."

"He only speaks Korean to me when he's talking dirty" laughs Nico. "I thought that's all he could say, until he and Elli talked about rain or shine..."

Link's holding him down by putting his arm on his arm.

"Wait, but on your wedding day."

Nico remembers Levi's exact words, spoken among their friends, an angelic look on his face.

''I'm telling you. It was hot." Nico laughed, blushing before he walked through the emergency door.


	6. Forget

"My love?"

No answer. Levi puts his coat down and thinks. It's only 6:00pm. Nico should be here with Elli. He takes a deep breath, trying not to think about all the horrible things that could have happened to them, and then he remembers: Nico was supposed to take Elli to Levi's mother's house to spend the night. Since they did it three months ago, they do it once a month now. Have a night just for them. And Grandma Schmitt is thrilled to be able to take care of her favorite grandson. Levi smiles every time she says it, since Elli is her only grandson.

Levi finds a big smile on her face and gently puts his things down. He goes to the bathroom and turns on the water before undressing. He's barely in the shower when he hears the slamming of the front door.

''Baby? Are you all right?"

Levi smiles at Nico's worried voice. He opens the shower door and waves him over.

"At this hour? Nico's surprised, but..."

''We won't be long. Please come." Levi says softly, making puppy dog eyes.

Nico can't resist. He undressed and joined her husband in the shower.

''You're driving me crazy.'' he whispers in Levi's ear, ''what if''...

"I'm crazy about you" Levi laughed as he let his hands go through Nico's body. 

Nico doesn't have time to respond that he's pushed against the shower wall, while Levi kneels down in front of him. 

Tt's so good to be able to meet up like this when you get off work. To be able to be carefree again. Indeed, the shower doesn't last long...

When they come out, ten minutes later and Levi goes to bed, still naked, in a star shape on their bed.

''Baby, maybe you should get dressed. If Elli comes home now..."

''Wait'' stops Levi as he gets up on the bed. ''Why would he come in? Didn't you drive him to my mother's?"

Nico stops drying his hair and looks at him surprised.

"What? No, that's tomorrow. I thought he was asleep."

Levi jumps out of bed and grabs some clothes that turn out to be Nico's.

"What do you mean tomorrow? You were supposed to take him this Thursday."

Nico continues to get dressed while looking up at the sky.

''It's Wednesday, Levi. Didn't you pick him up from daycare?"

Levi grabs his phone to check. _Wednesday._

''Oh, no.'' Is he yelling, trying to get his pants on, ''I forgot my baby.''

He looks at Nico' smiling and Levi trips over trying to put on socks.

"I forgot our baby."

Levi looks like he's about to cry while Nico looks amused. He stops him as soon as Levi tries to walk by him.

''Hey, baby. It's all right. He's in daycare, not on the street. He's fine. He's safe. They must think we had an emergency. Everything's okay."

Levi runs his hands through his wet hair, like he wants to rip it out.

''No, it's not okay. I forgot our baby."

''You just had the wrong day. It happens, you know? You're just tired, that's all."

"I'm the worst father in the world. OMG I feel so bad. "

Nico grabs him by the shoulders and squeezes him.

''You're the best, Levi. You're wonderful, and I'm so happy to be able to share this role with you. Now you'll calm down and we'll go together and look for our son who won't even know we're late. And when he's asleep, I can thank you for this mistake and do to you what you just did to me."

Levi hits him on the arm and grunts.

"This isn't funny, Nico."

"No," he confirms "it was good. Very good. Coming home from work and sharing my shower with you was something I really missed."

Levi steps back and smiles at him.

''Me, too,'' he says, with a little lip, before he opens their bedroom door.

''Now let's go get our son and shower him with love to make up for forgetting him,'' Levi says, putting on his shoes. And Nico knows he's not kidding.

''He probably hasn't even noticed.'' Nico says quietly as they walk to the hospital.

''I know that. But I need to make it up to him."

What would Nico say to that? He wishes his daddy would give him half the love Levi has for Elli. Not that Nico brings him any less. He loves her just as much, but maybe he's less demonstrative than her husband.

And as Nico might have bet, Levi wipes a tear from the corner of his eye as he sees Elli through the daycare windows. Elli plays quietly stacking cubes, a big smile on his face.

"See, everything's okay," Nico says quietly before opening the daycare door and letting Levi pass in front of him.

''Daddy'' screams Elli as Levi calls out for him. He runs across the playroom, but stops when he sees Nico and starts running back towards him. "Dad".

He throws himself in Nico's arms, passes Levi without even looking at him.

Levi makes a little pout as he watches Elli kiss Nico. He picks up Elli's things and the summary of his day and apologizes for being late, smiling when Laura tells him _''we didn't notice. Here we never pay attention to the time. With doctors, you never know."_

''Dad'' finally says Elli, literally throwing herself into Levi's arms. ''Dad, I love you.''

''I love you too, little man. So much. Now let's go home."

And when Levi insists on taking a little detour to buy Elli a new toy, Nico can't even pretend to be surprised. 


	7. This thing

Levi's watching the ambulance pull up. Three cars have crashed. The first two victims have already arrived, taken care of by Taryn and Dr. Hunt, and Levi's waiting for the third.

When the doors open, he doesn't expect to find Ben Warren, a tiny baby in his arms.

''Baby found in a trash can, a few hours old, still has his cord. Not cleaned up. Found asleep. Sleepy but conscious and breathing on his own. Has cleft lip."

Levi stands still for a second and then retrieves the baby. 

"What's this got to do with the Restroy crash?" he asks as Ben follows him down the halls.

"None. Just two calls at the same time, why?"

Levi takes the baby to the first available cubicle and pages Pedes.

''Poor guy'' says Ben softly, ''I guess he was left because of his deformity. It's monstrous."

Levi jumps up and removes his stethoscope.

''He's just a baby.'' His voice is harsh and dry, which isn't like him at all.

Ben jumps up and raises his hands in front of him. 

''Hey. It's monstrous, leaving him like that. I wasn't talking about him. You know me, don't you?"

Levi refocuses on the baby until Dr. Hayes comes in and takes over. The baby's being taken care of as little John Doe.

Levi follows up with a spleen ablatation on one of the roadkill victims. He comes in for a quick shower and a change of clothes. He's only ten minutes behind schedule, which is less than the previous days. He hesitates but goes to the daycare to pick up Elli, without making any detours.

Laura greets him with a smile. Levi knows that Elli loves him very much. She is always sweet. She tells her that Elli fell asleep only 30 minutes ago. She offers to wake him up, but she knows Levi will refuse. Which he does. Levi and Nico have always said no. They'd rather let him finish his sleep than wake him up. His schedule's been pushed around enough by his dads' schedules as it is.

So as usual, Laura promises to call Levi when Elli wakes up. Usually, Levi takes the opportunity to go home and lie down for a while. It's one of the perks of living so close to the hospital. But today he goes straight to pediatrics, without even thinking about it. He hears Nils, one of the interns, grumbling as he walks through the doors.

"I want to be a surgeon, not a nanny."

Levi moves slowly, only to find that Nils is talking to Nadia, another intern.

''I gotta go, man. I have a surgery."

Nils sighs loudly.

''And I got to play nanny. I don't want to spend my shift with this thing stuck to my chest."

''That thing is a human being'' Levi gets pissed off when he walks into the nursery, ''It's a baby. He needs attention to help him survive."

The two interns seem panicked, and Nadia takes advantage of that to leave. Levi moves closer and grabs the baby, gently laying on top of Nils.

''He needs love, not just contact. Get out of the way."

Levi shows him the door with his head but the intern doesn't move from the chair he's sitting in.

"But Dr Hayes."

"Get out." Levi repeats in a harsher, angrier voice, showing him the door. 

The intern gets up and leaves the room without a sound. Levi looks at the baby and smiles.

''He was such an idiot. You're a champion little boy."

He takes off his fleece jacket and T-shirt with one hand and puts his fleece back on before he sits in the chair and puts the baby on his chest. He did that so much with Elli the first few weeks. Nico said it was the most beautiful thing he could see. And since he felt the same way when he saw Nico in skin-to-skin with their son, he understood him completely. He gently closed the fleece and stroked the little one's back over the cloth while whispering reassuring words to him.

He stays there for about ten minutes before Hayes notices him and comes to ask him where his intern is. 

''I'm taking care of him,'' Hayes grumbles ''Oh, the interns... sometimes I wonder if I was as difficult as they are.... Do you want me to discharge you, Levi?"

Levi looks at him smiling and then looks back at the kid.

''No, it's okay. I'm not working anymore. I'm waiting for Elli to wake up in daycare. I'll put him back in the incubator then."

''That's nice.'' said the head of pediatrics as he left the room. ''Babies like him really need the touch.''

Levi's fine with that. So he starts gently stroking the little one's arm again, encouraging him.

"Levi?"

Nico's voice almost startled him, but he holds himself back so he doesn't wake little sleeping John Doe.

"What are you doing here?"

Levi looks down at the boy and smiles at Nico.

''I'm giving out my body heat.''

Nico stops laughing and keeps his worried look on his face.

"Weren't you supposed to pick up Elli?"

"He was asleep," Levi says softly, "I'm waiting for him to wake up."

Nico looks puzzled, so Levi feels compelled to explain.

''I took this baby in this morning, when I was waiting for the accident victims. He was abandoned in a garbage can. Maybe because of the cleft in his lips. Or maybe it wasn't. Either way, I wanted to see how he was doing. The intern who was supposed to do the skin-to-skin was grumbling and called him "that thing". So I fired him and took his place."

He looks at the baby asleep on top of him. "Poor baby, he just needs some love."

Nico looks at Levi like he's an angel come down from heaven.

''If I wasn't in love with you, I would be right now.'' He says softly as he bends over to kiss Levi's head. His eyes turn to the baby and he strokes his back, just as Levi did a few minutes ago.

''Cheer up, buddy. You"

Nico's pager stops him in his tracks. He turns his eyes to Levi and forces him to look at him.

''I gotta go. Be careful, Levi, don't slip."

''But''...

"Don't let him get to you." Nico says softly before he goes, "Be careful, Levi."

Levi knows exactly what her husband means. He shouldn't get attached. Little John will have surgery in a few days, then he'll be placed for adoption. Levi watches the little one be on top of him and the idea of adopting him pops up. But it doesn't. He can't adopt every abandoned kid that comes into the hospital. And they didn't really talk about having a second child. Elli isn't even 3 yet and it's hard enough for them to fit their schedules, their couple, their son, their family and friends together.

He's trying to be rational. And yet he feels torn when he has to rest the little one in the incubator twenty minutes later when the daycare centre calls him. He spends the rest of the day enjoying his son. 

It's only when Elli goes to bed after dinner that Levi feels the need to talk with Nico. And yet he knows Nico won't be okay with it. That if they decide to adopt a second baby, he'll want to think long and hard about it and that they can't do it on a whim. And the worst part is, he's right. Levi knows that. But he looks at Little John's picture on his phone and sighs. He shouldn't even have taken his picture, normally. He just couldn't resist. 

Little John isn't the first baby Levi's taken in. He remembers that little girl he had to keep skin-to-skin all day when he was a resident. He's already taken care of several babies in that case. But this is different, he knows that. He needs to talk to her husband about it. 

Nico's on call all night and he won't be home yet when Levi has to go to work. And they can't talk about that over there, between patients. They need to find a real time to talk about it. Maybe Nico could join him on his break.

_I'd like to talk to you. Could you come on my break tomorrow?_

Levi regrets sending that message as soon as he gets Nico's reply.

_Oh, Levi. Don't make me do this, please._

It's frustrating that her husband knows him so well. And it's frustrating that he knows him so well, too. He knew full well that Nico wouldn't even consider it. After ten minutes, his phone rings again.

_Levi? Are you okay? I don't want to be the bad guy, but we can't. you know that._

He rereads the message, turns his phone off and spends the next few hours trying to trying to sleep. To no avail.

Levi gets frustrated and feels like a kid who's being denied a lollipop. And yet he knows it's not a whim. It's... it's visceral. Like something's pushing him towards little john. And that's why on his break, instead of going to the cafeteria, he goes straight to pediatrics.

He's back in the chair with little john on his chest and he feels like he's where he belongs and he can finally breathe again.. Levi goes through his chart and learns that his surgery is scheduled for the next day.

"I knew you'd be here."

Nico looks... he looks defeated. His shoulders are down and he looks like he couldn't sleep.

''Oh Levi'' he groans as he walks up to her husband. 

He doesn't have time to talk as Hayes enters the nursery, showing Little John on Levi's chest to a little brown lady.

''We try to give him as much human contact as possible,'' says the pediatrician, ''this is Drs. Schmitt. Drs Schmitt, this is Mrs Rodia, the social worker who's going to take over Little John Doe's case.''

"You're both Dr Schmitt?" the brunette wonders.

''Yes,'' confirms Nico as he sees Levi cowering over the baby, as if to protect him. ''I'm Nico Schmitt, orthopaedic surgeon, and this is my husband, Levi Schmitt, general surgeon. We...'' He's looking at her husband, who's always huddled over the baby. "We'd like to adopt this baby.''

Levi's head straightens up immediately. Mrs. Rodia raises her head and looks at him in amazement. Hayes looks surprised, but has no time to talk as her pager rings and he leaves, signaling his complete approval.

''We know this isn't standard procedure. We adopted our son with the right procedure. But we'd be happy to be able to give this little guy a family.''

Nico feels Levi's hand slipping into his, and even though he can't see it, he can guess the huge smile on his face.

Mrs Rodia looks at them and then smiles.

''I'm gonna go make some calls. See if we can find your file and update it. If it's okay with my superiors, I'd like to see your accommodations. I'd also like to meet your son."

"I'm off duty," said Nico immediately. "I can take you to meet Elli now if you like."

''I'm calling my superiors.'' She said, taking her phone out of her pocket, ''I've never had a case like this before. But why not. This little guy's had enough bad luck as it is."

"One of our colleagues adopted his daughter that way," Levi says quietly as if to reassure himself.

"I'm inquiring and I'll be right back." she says with a smile. 

Levi gently pulls Nico's arm, who understands the message, and turns to him, while crouching down to be at his level. Nico looks at her husband smiling, without saying anything. 

"Who are you and what have you done with my husband?" Levi finally asks.

"I love you." Nico simply replies. 

Levi looks up to the sky and puts his hand on Nico's cheek.

"I know. I love you, too. But what's changed since last night?"

Nico shrugs his shoulders and gently strokes the baby's back.

''I've been thinking all morning. And most of all I saw you. I saw how you positioned yourself to protect him. I feel like he's already your son. You always had an instinct. With Elli, you always knew when something was really wrong. And now I can see that you're already connected with this baby. I promised to make you happy, Levi. Then I want to make you happy."

''It's got to make you happy, too, Nico.'' Levi says softly.

''I'd be very happy to make our family bigger,'' Nico replies, sliding his hand on the baby's back. ''He may have rushed things. I didn't think we were ready for this now. But he's here now, and he needs us. So we're gonna be tired and we're gonna have to find a whole organization, but I'm sure we can do it. We have enough love at home to welcome him into our family. After all, some families end up with an unexpected baby, so why can't we? We deserve to have our surprise baby, too."

Levi starts laughing at the idea and he stands up slowly when Mrs. Rodia reappears.

''I can't promise you anything, but they're not against the idea. I'll have to redo your chart and the warden will have to make the decision."

''So let's do that.'' says Nico ''If it's good for you, we'll get Elli and go home. We live five minutes away."

She nods before turning to Levi.

''Don't get too attached, Mr Schmitt. I can't guarantee anything."

He smiles back at her with an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that. I'm already too attached. I can't control that."

Nico kisses him and then shows the social worker the way to daycare. Levi looks at the clock and putting Little John back in his crib. He knows that if the administration denies them the adoption, he'll suffer but he can't stop this surge of love from building up inside him.. He has to hold on to the hope that Nico just grew up.

He looks around, knowing full well that what he's about to do is completely unprofessional. But no one is around so he leans over the crib and strokes the baby's cheek.

''We already love you very much.''


	8. i'm sorry

"So, Dr. Schmitt, glad to be back?"

Levi looks up at Meredith and smiles. He hadn't even noticed she'd entered the resident break room.

"Very happy, thank you. I feel like only yesterday I came back from Elli's discharge. But this time it's so different."

''It's always different when you have more than one child. You can never bring them the same thing, you just have to accept that."

Levi nods his head and takes another sip of coffee.

''I'm surprised it's Nico who's staying home, though'' Hayes ends up saying, ''considering you're the one who stayed home for Elli.''

"Actually," Levi explains, "we're doing the same thing for Elli. But by reversing the roles. We took a month off after the adoption. Nico took an extra month off and when his leave was up, I'd be off for three weeks."

''It's good'' says Owen ''you'll both benefit from being able to keep your baby at an age where you didn't have the first one. I liked it with Addison. I couldn't be there for Leo when he was as little as she was."

"That's exactly right," Levi confirmed before he was cut off by Casey, who just sat next to him.

''This time, I'm not gonna be called in for stitches. You remember?"

He's touching the scar that runs across his eyebrow, grunting. It feels so far away and so close at the same time. That was almost three years ago.

"I made him promise I wouldn't see an ER on his first day alone with Nola. He's only allowed to come here to pick Elli up from daycare at 4:00."

"Nola..." Hayes says quietly "I think every time I hear her name, I'll remember the day you first named her. I've never seen parents make a decision so quickly. It was incredible."

Levi smiles at her and takes another sip of his coffee. He too will never forget the day they finally got the fateful call, confirming their permission to adopt little John Doe. Nico hadn't wanted to speak his first name all the way through the procedure...15 days to come every day taking care of this baby, taking it against them, not knowing if they could adopt him. And after less than a five-minute call, it was finally official: Little John Doe would be their son. They were both in pediatrics, around the baby and they had screamed before they kissed and then took their son against them.   
Hayes had arrived, alerted by the screams, and stood in the doorway, watching the happy couple, who were talking softly to the baby. 

"You're going to be a Schmitt, my son" Nico laughed.

''We need to talk about names now'' Levi was quick to say.

"Nola," Nico simply replied.

Levi looked at him with a raised eyebrow and then looked at the baby. 

"Nola Ethan Schmitt, welcome to the family."

Levi understood Nico's reasoning right away. "Nollam" is Korean for "surprise". He was a little surprised that Nico repeated the idea of a name based on a Korean word, but he was all the happier. So he decided to go with his Hebrew name, Ethan. It means "Strong and brave."

  
Their pagers all start beeping, which pulls Levi out of his thoughts, and they all get up in a jiffy to go to the emergency room.

''If that's Nico, I'd kill him for you,'' laughed Casey as they came down the stairs, causing Levi to laugh.

''A gunman in the mall warns Taryn when they arrive ''We're expecting about 10 wounded."

The first ambulances arrive and unload the patients. One patient has already died before arriving at the hospital, shot in the aorta. 

Levi is looking after a lady who has been shot in the thigh when he hears Taryn screaming.

"Shit. He's not a stranger. It's Nico."

And just like in a bad dream, he looks up just in time to see her husband on the gurney. He's screaming at Meredith to take his case and he's walking through the chaos of the ER to get to Nico.

This vision is even worse than Levi's worst nightmare. Nico's unconscious and losing an enormous amount of blood. The impact of the bullet is in the middle of his chest. The paramedics cut off his shirt and baby sling to control the bleeding. The baby sling hangs on both sides of the stretcher, filled with blood and torn by the bullet impact. 

''He's hit in the chest. He's losing too much blood. We need to go to the OR now." Taryn screams as she examines Nico.

The sound coming out of Levi's isn't a word, not really a sound either. It's a gluttural moan.

Levi freezes for two seconds, then he starts screaming, "Nola? Where is my baby?"

But the elevator to the blocks is already closed. Levi runs through the emergency room, bumping into a cart and then into the reception desk to catch up with the paramedics before they leave.

''My husband was just taken away. Shot in the chest. He was supposed to have our baby with him."

The paramedics look at each other in amazement, then call out to their colleagues. Each team responds in the same way, "No babies on the scene. He had an empty baby sling on him when the paramedics arrived.''

Levi breathes a sigh of relief, but feels the panic spread just as quickly. He doesn't understand. He doesn't know what Nico was doing at the mall, or where Nola is. At this hour, his mom's working. So does Nico's sister. And Nola's not old enough to go to daycare yet. Plus he had the baby carrier, which means Nola had to be with him. 

"I'll check your house." Casey suggests as he joins Levi in front of the ambulance "Every patient is under control. Hunt took Taryn's place to take care of Nico... He just went down to the O.R. I'm going to your place. He's not in daycare. I checked."

Levi nods but he knows Casey won't find it. Nico would never leave him alone in their house. 

''We need to get back to the scene,'' says the paramedic, waving at Levi to get out of the way so he can close the ambulance door. ''Minor injuries await.''

Levi jumps in the ambulance without thinking. Nola's got to be there. The paramedic doesn't have time to ask any questions. Levi closes the doors and says, "Let's go."

Levi tries to call Yon and then his mother, but one by one they confirm they're at work and haven't seen Nico all day. Why would they? Levi can't even explain the situation, so he hangs up to focus on another option.

He got Casey's message just five minutes after he left.

_Nothing at home, sorry._

Levi's head is starting to spin. He informs him he's going to the scene and tries to think of all the options, but he really can't see. Only Nico can tell them. And if he doesn't wake up... 

Levi shakes his head. Nothing's okay. He doesn't understand anything. Why Nico was there. And why would he take Nola out of the baby sling? That's where it all lights up.

He must have been with someone.  
  


The ambulance stops just when that thought hits him. He passes the police roadblock, following the paramedics inside the mall. All uninjured people are sitting in the lobby. He first sweeps the crowd with his eyes and sees nothing. He looks quickly a second time and sees the hat his mother had knitted for Elli.

Levi moves forward as quickly as he can, looking at the man holding his baby in his arms. He is about thirty years old. Maybe barely 30. He's brown, rather slender. Under other circumstances, he'd think he was cute. 

''This is my son'' he says in a dry voice as he stretches out his arms.

The man raises his head and looks surprised, but doesn't hesitate to put Nola back in his arms. Fortunately, the seat next door is free and Levi sits down, his son against him. His legs are made of cotton and he can no longer hold back the running tears.

It's the hand on his shoulder that brings him back to reality. He wipes his eyes and thinks about the grotesque situation. He is comforted by the man her husband is cheating with.

"Thank you," says Levi softly, "thank you for saving my son."

The man nods his head before asking, "It's Okay...and how is your husband?"

Levi feels the anger rising inside him. You can tell from his face as the man steps back into his seat.

''You're not short of air. It's hard enough for me without having to give information to my husband's lover."

The man almost chokes on the spot.

"Oh, no." He corrects himself when he catches his breath. "Not at all. I don't even know your husband.''

Levi looks at him frowning and gently squeezes Nola against his chest...

"What? What are you doing with Nola, then?" Levi asks, squeezing him tightly against her chest.

"I swear, I don't know your husband. I work in the jewelry store. He was ordering a necklace when your baby threw up on him. But really big vomi. I have a nine-month-old baby, so I know that. I offered to take the little one. So he took him out of the baby sling and I gave him some time to clean up his mess. The toilett's right next to the jewelry store. There were gunshots. It happened so fast. We didn't understand a thing."

Levi's feeling really stupid right now. He looks at the man, and then he looks at Nola who's fallen asleep on top of him.

"I... I... you..." stutters Levi between tears before taking a deep breath. "Thank you very much You saved my little boy. If Nola had been with his father, he would have died. Thank you...''

"My name's Matt. I looked for your husband, and they said he was hurt." Matt's worried.

"He's in surgery, he's been shot in the chest."

Levi's phone starts ringing.

''Okay, thanks, Taryn. All right, I got Nola. He's okay. We're on our way."

Levi thanks Matt and takes his contact details so he can give him an update and because he knows Nico will want to thank him in person. He finds an ambulance to take him back to the hospital.

The drive to the hospital doesn't seem to take as long as it did on the way there. Maybe just because he can kiss his baby whenever he feels like it. 

Taryn and Casey offer to take the boys home but Levi can't imagine leaving them. So he sits at Nico's bedside, Nola still asleep in his arms.

It must be three o'clock in the morning when Nico starts to wake up. Elli sleeps at the end of Nico's bed and Levi still holds Nola against him. He grabs Nico's hand and kisses her on top.

"Levi." Nico whispers in a broken voice once he's awake. 

"Shh," stops him, Levi. "Don't say anything. Just rest. It's okay. They're okay."

Nico looks at Levi and Nola and then grinds his head when he turns to see Elli.

"I'm sorry."

''Shh, stop. Don't strain yourself. You need to rest."

"I'm sorry." Repeats Nico as he goes back to sleep.

When he wakes the second time, he's more conscious. 

"Levi?"

Levi's startled. He didn't even realize he'd fallen asleep.

''I'm sorry."

''Hush, it's not your fault, love. A man decided to shoot into the crowd because he was crazy and lost his job."

"I lied to you."

Matt's vision automatically comes back into Levi's mind. Was he dumb enough to believe that story? Was the morphine gonna get Nico to admit that he was cheating on Levi?

''I swore I wouldn't end up in the E.R. I'm sorry."

Levi takes a huge sigh of relief.

"I thought you were gonna tell me something worse than that."

"Worse than _I got shot in the chest_?"

Levi nods his head and smiles.

"Yeah. Worse. Like, _I got shot in the chest while I was at the mall with my lover, but he saved our baby, so it's OK_."

Nico looks at him with his eyes wide open and then he starts smiling.

"Oh, Levi," he moans, "but what kind of story did you make up?"

Levi starts laughing.

''I know. I'm sorry."

"I remember this jeweler babysat Nola for me while I went to clean up his vomi. And then nothing."

"I know." Levi says softly, "He always had Nola with him. I'm sorry if I'm making a big deal out of this. I didn't even know you had to go to the mall."

"I was going to buy you your birthday present, Levi. A necklace with every member of our family on it. The whole point of a surprise is so you don't know, right? How can you even imagine that, Levi? I only love you. Always have. Until the end of days."

''I love you so much, Nico. Don't ever scare me like that again." Levi moans as he climbs into Nico's bed. He lies down next to Nico.

''I'm gonna try so hard. I promise."

If Levi's sure of one thing now, it's that he hates coming back from leave. Nico will always be able to say that these are just coincidences, Levi is in no hurry for Nico to get back to work.


End file.
